Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich learned earlier this month that, barring a surprise clemency, he’ll be in a federal prison until 2024. A.J. Bibbs? He’ll be eligible for parole on May 21, 2021, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC).

House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) has spent nearly $170,000 in campaign funds on baseball tickets, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, which Illinois Policy Institute staffer Joe Kaiser finds strange since Madigan has been less than a fair-weather fan of major league sports in the city.

Indiana might be too far away to care what a Chicago alderman has to say about the state, but alienating residents of the neighborhood where he wants to put a housing complex might not be the best sales pitch for Chicago 45th Ward Alderman John Arena.

If you take away telephone landlines, you take away lifelines for many senior citizens, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) argued recently regarding proposed legislation that would allow telecom companies to reallocate landline resources.

A legislative proposal that would regulate trampoline parks – which made it through the House of Representatives on a 64 to 46 vote – has made some wonder about what are the legislative priorities of the current lawmakers in Springfield.